The Brazilian printing industry is one of the most vibrant growth markets in the world today. For domestic and international ink manufacturers alike, it is a market of tremendous interest, and numerous multinational ink companies have set up shop in the country.

With annual sales of more than $40 million, Cromos S.A. Tintas Gráficas remains the leading domestic ink manufacturer in the nation, and continues to receive top honors from Brazilian printers, receiving the prestigious Fernando Pini Brazilian Awards for Graphic Excellence prize for Best Printing Ink Supplier in 2012, which is sponsored by Abigraf (the Brazilian Graphic Industries Association) and ABTG (the Brazilian Graphic Technology Association). It was the seventh time the company received the top award from the Brazilian printing industry.

“By far, the most important award is the Fernando Pini prize,” said Gero Pluecker, vice president, Cromos S.A. Tintas Gráficas. “For us, being awarded in 2012 means a lot.”

Founded in 1944 in Rio de Janeiro, where the company is still headquartered, Cromos S.A. Tintas Gráficas remains an independent, private company. Understandably, due to the size of the market, Cromos S.A. Tintas Gráficas has branched out over the years, with an important production site in São Paulo, and several other sites and service stations all over the country. There is also Cromos Latina, located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“Our operations reach all regions of our country, as well as most other countries in South America,” said Mr. Pluecker. “Since 1999, we are ISO 9001 certified, which reinforces our image as a reliable and high quality printing ink company. In fact, we are the most traditional and biggest national printing ink producer in Brazil. Despite tough competition, we maintain an excellent market share for sheetfed offset inks.”

Although Cromos offers a wide range of products, its core business has always been sheedfed offset inks.The company also offers web offset inks, both heatset and coldset.

“We are best known in this particular market segment,” Mr. Pluecker said. “We produce all kind of inks for this segment: process colors, vegetable inks, Pantone, sublimation inks, safety inks, radiation curing inks, and varnishes.”

Cromos has also developed a strong following in the packaging market, including metal deco, gravure and flexo inks.

“Metal decoration is also a very important and traditional product for us,” Mr. Pluecker said. “This includes inks for aluminum cans, where we have operated since 1988 in close cooperation with INX International. We produce and sell gravure inks for cigarettes, being the exclusive supplier in Brazil for an international important, leading brand. There are also our water-based flexographic inks for paper and corrugated board, which have a good market share.”

Above all, Cromos S.A. Tintas Gráficas prides itself on partnering with its customers, and Mr. Pluecker points to the many honors the company has received as proof of its dedication to its customers.

“Over all these years, we have received a lot of awards, mostly for our offset inks,” Mr. Pluecker said. “The most important is the Fernando Pini award. Cromos has won this important prize seven times. There is also a prize from a leading Brazilian graphic arts magazine, Graphprint, which promotes a national contest between all printers to nominate the best ink supplier. Cromos has won this prize 10 times. Several local graphic arts institutions, like the in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Minas Gerais, promote their own awards, and Cromos is always there with several prizes won.”